Alive!

944 Comments

You are the hysterical one dude. No one has said O’Byrne will tip the scales or is the second coming of Scott Stevens.

Those of us who can see clearly, realize a big Dman might help our beleaguered defense. We can see that MAB’s ice time must be limited as well as that of Hammer who is but a shell of his former self.

Perhaps you will inform us how playing MAB 18 minutes a game helps the team? How forcing Hammer and an injured Gill to play extra minutes helps the team? How not icing the best possible roster helps the team?

I think you are the hysterical and irrational one in questioning the insertion of O’Byrne, when you have not one rational reason not to play him.

SOMETIMES IT IS THE MINUTES YOU ELIMINATE RATHER THAN THE MINUTES YOU PLAY. LESS MAB MINUTES IS A HUGE GAIN.

So for what it’s worth, here’s coach kempie’s game plan (devised from the comfort of my couch):

We have last change so maybe consider reassembling the Giant Mexican Squid for a few shifts, and while we’re at it, maybe try Plex between the brothers for a few. For the love of everything that is good, INSERT OB!!!! I know he won’t score, and I was saying this last game mostly for the sake of adding his size, but now I just want MAB off period. I know big shot, power play blah blah…. but he’s not taking those shots anymore and how much good is he when the puck hops his stick at the line and we have to go back for it? 20 seconds gone. Not on the 4th, not on the pp, just off. Is there any way we can get Spatch on his right side for a few shifts? Let’s try cycling hard down low and drawing some pp time and maybe cashing them when we get em. Some guys seem like they are trying to do too much (PK I’m lookin at you man). This sounds dumb but Gomez… please try and stay out of the box for the first 3 minutes. We need to remember that Leighton is giving monster rebounds and try to force more of them and anticipate them. Halak/Price? Forget it. 41 is driving this bus and I’d give him a medium-long leash. This is his ship to go down with if that’s what happens. And finally…

H is for Hell–the deja-vu Hell of Le Centre Bell in a Game 4 following a Game 3 where the Habs, already down 2-0 in the series, lay an egg! The Hell of 2009, Round One… the Hell the Habs must escape, at any cost!

This BGL VS GSP thing is going to be fun. Everybody seems to be bashing Laraque for this or are misunderstanding this as a real fight. Rest assured that this is only a fight for fun and nothing more. BGL is now 270 lbs!! try moving that in front of the net.

Relax. SK makes zero difference, Pouliot back is good whatever line he is on (if he’s going to work hard for a change) and the OB thing is a tossup. You take his size and his penalties or you reduce your chances of penalties overall. Given their PK failures recently I’d prefer fewer penalties and that means no OB. I always try to keep in mind that we’re a bubble team, a .500 team and we have very little depth to call on right now. None of those 3 guys are game changers except OB whose penalties could be.

In all seriousness, goaltending (aside from game 1) has not been the issue. We have to get pucks past Leighton, plain and simple. Price may very well be more aggressive to any Flyer that breaches his crease, but I have a little more faith that Halak will make those big stops, just like in the Washington and Pittsburg series. What needs to happen is to put O’Byrne back in the lineup, and have him play the crease-clearer defenseman. Aside from Gill, he’s the only guy big enought to do that job.

He does make a good case. I was annoyed at the headline, but after reading it, I liked the case he presented. However – and only in my opinion – he comes to the wrong conclusions. Halak gives us a better chance to win the game. He is the better goalie. What we really need is to score goals and tighten up the D.

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“Peoples will only be truly free when the last king is strangled by the bowels of the last priest” Francois Laignelot –

Damien Cox makes an excellent case for Price getting the start tonight. I know I’m probably in the minority, but I agree with him. Know it’s not going to happen though. I also agree with Cox’s assertion that JM’s conservative style isn’t particularly well suited to the playoffs. His unwillingness to think outside the box has MAB firmly entrenched and eating up minutes on D and on the PP, even though he can’t play D and the PP is in need of some stability and smart puck movement. IMO, JM needs to make some bold decisions to keep the Habs in the series..

Excellent post… Nice to see someone else feels positive too. BTW I saw Mikko Koivu today, he was having a coffee at the same place as me. Almost asked him ‘Is it nice to have holidays same time and as long as your bro?’

You should know you need a physical presence when your Dmen can’t clear Briere from the front of the net. Plus I hope he plays with Hamrlik so that he can cover for his lapses in defense. The initial poster forgot to mention that OB would also make a better PK man than Hamrlik and was a decent sub for Gill when he went down.

I’m not sure I’m comfortable with the team’s attitude… They have a sense of confidence that is probably not helpful. I feel they’re thinking “we’ve been here before, no sweat, we can pull this off.” That’s NOT the attitude that carried them through the first 2 series. JM says “we’ve overcome adversity before.” That’s not a good reason to feel less worried. They won the first two series as underdogs, no one giving them a chance, “against all odds”, with nothing to lose, etc. They have something to lose now; they’re within just 4 wins of the Stanley Cup Final… Anyone else share my concern?

Pretty simple how to beat a hot goalie. Go to the net. Create traffic. Grind. Get in his face. Dig for the puck, and don’t quit on plays. (It’s what Philly has done to Halak – it will work on Leighton as well))

As for our crease, get them the heck out of there. Make life miserable for them. Don’t allow them to walk to the net with impunity. Force the play. And again, grind and don’t quit on plays. Just want it more than them.

If we do these things, we will win.

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“Peoples will only be truly free when the last king is strangled by the bowels of the last priest” Francois Laignelot -

H is for hard. as in, play that way. finish checks, drive the net, no more lateral passes when you cross their blue line (that means you, pleky and gomez), knock those youppi-colored skids on their a– in front of your net.

I think we need to avoid raising the Flyers to God-like status like the schmucks on TSN and CBC do. They flopped into the playoffs just like we did. They took out the NJD in the first round, we took out the Caps, the number one team. They beat the Bruins (6th place team with a lot of injuries) in the second round. Yes, the did the amazing, coming from 3 games down to win the series but again, the Bruins were a hurting team and did a lot to beat themselves. We took out Sidney, Geno and the rest of the Cup champs. Round 3…..

While it’s true that the Caps and Pens came out on the ice and played their arrogant way of ignoring what the Habs were doing, never adjusting their game significantly and lost because they thought they could continue what they were doing and win.

The Flyers are a different team which, at times, gives us a glimpse into the BSB past. Not in this series though. Carcillo has been put on a leash and Harntell is behaving himself as well. The Flyers are a pretty good team. They’re no Washington or Pittsburgh but Laviolette has them playing a very good game right now and it’s beating us.

The big physical game everyone was afraid of isn’t there. The nasty edge to the Flyer game isn’t there. They are playing a smothering game and we aren’t adjusting to the play of the game. Surely to God, if we lowly fans and armchair coaches can watch the games and can draw logical conclusions as to what’s right and wrong, the Habs coaches must be able to do the same.

For everything the Flyers are doing right, we are playing some of the worst hockey in the playoffs right now. Can the Flyers play a better game? I don’t think so. This is as good as they get. We can and have played better which is why I am so optimistic about this game tonight and the rest of the series. Halak, Gomez, Cammy, all of them can play better and will….starting tonight!

GO HABS GO!!!! I Believe……

“Without the strength of the past, the team may face a choice – to win, or to be French-Canadian?” — Ken Dryden

Have to disagree with your assertion that OB didn’t factor squat in the Caps series. OB knocked Backstrom into the Hab’s bench in game 5 (I could be wrong on the timing). Backstrom played like a girly man the rest of the series. May not be a connection there, but IMO strong correlation.

Because Jacques Martin belives that if you make 1 mistake as a rookie, you’re a hopeless case and unfit to play. However if you’re a veteran and you spend the entire game giving the other team chance after chance to come back into the game (Hamrlik in Game 7!) you will get regular ice time. JM gives way too much preferential treatment to his veterans even when they’re wretched.

O’Byrne can play well when has his confidence, which probably is low since JM has treated him like a leper since he had some trouble in the last few games of the regular season. O’Byrne playing in the later games of that series gave the Canadiens a physical force to use against Washington forwards that helped keep them off of Halak. I want someone besides Gill capable of clearing the crease with physical power to back it up, that’s not insane to expect more than 1 of 6 defencemen to be big guys who can do the jobs those guys are expected to do.

Gill is still injured and more immobile than usual so having O’B back is a good thing. MAB looks like a scared little girl when the Flyers are bearing down on him and his big shot from the point has vanished.

I don’t think O’B is going to win the game for us but at least he won’t wet himself when the Flyers are forechecking…..

“Without the strength of the past, the team may face a choice – to win, or to be French-Canadian?” — Ken Dryden

Agreed, Corporate. And in fact I asked a similar question about 7 posts below. No answers yet. Probably the best point is where someone said that unless Gomez, Gionta, and Cammy start scoring, series over.

O’byrne is a bigger body out there, but people are building him up like he’s Scott Stevens. What do you think he was benched against the Pens in game 7 for? Because he’s so great? MAB is not a good defenseman, but O’Byrne is also just a 6th fringe guy. Just because a guy is big and makes 3 hits a game, doesn’t mean he matters all that much. O’Byrne didn’t factor squat in beating the Caps. It was 80% Halak and 15% Gill and Gorges, with 5% the rest of the team clogging up the neutral zone and blocking shots. I think O’Byrne is just as liable to screw up than he is to do anything else. I’m not saying he shouldn’t be given a try, but keep some perspective. The guy is a 6th or 7th defenseman! He basically means nothing.

Everyone is missing the point here… We win as a team and we lose as a team. So no matter who makes it on the official final roster sheet, we must play as a team. 4 lines that compliment each other. Bodies that are not scared to get ripped off. I truly believe that the Flyers are running on reputation more than on actual talent. Yes they have the Gagne’s and the Briere’s, but I still say we can still beat them. In addition, everyone is talking about how tough they play. They have not really played that tough… They through a few hits which is normal but other than that it is fine. So I wish our habs a great game and win one for the Montreal fans.

Difference is the Flyers have a far superior defence group right now with Markov being out for us and have an excellent capacity to clear the crease and rebounds. O’Byrne adds a missing element to the blue line, a bigger, healthy defencemen who will play at 100% because he doesn’t have 50 stitches in his leg. MAB is killing us in our zone and making the team waste time clearing the puck more often than they should while they score on us because a guy can sit in front of our net without incident.

O’Byrne factored into the 3-game comeback over Washington let’s not forget. Making the Flyers pay a physical price in our zone, especially the smaller ones like Giroux and Briere can work for Montreal, much better than see MAB put on a horror show. I’ll take OB for 20 minutes a night over MAB playing 20 a night.

Flyers wouldn’t worry about Krajicek playing because they’d still have Carle, Timmonen, Pronger and Coburn to use, we don’t have that luxury of an excellent D-group with Markov out and Hamrlik alternating playing like he’s 35 or 53.

Somewhat agreed. I go back and orth on whether he should even be in the line-up. I know JM will never take him out completely, so it’s pretty much a moot point, but the argument for keeping him in is that the 4th line players don’t play that much anyways, and if he’s not there, it means we go back to having Gorges, Gill, or OB on the PP, and Spacek back on the first unit. It’s not the end of the world, and Gorges does a decent job keeping the puck in but he’s not a threat to score. Even if he’s playing poorly, MAB is at least a guy who Philly has to respect as a possible shot and it may open up space for other guys. One could equally make a case for taking MAB out altogether, but as i said, that would be the argument for keeping him in.

Apologies. Just realized Kempie made exact same point below. Different arm-chairs, same conclusions.

So a question: really — but really — exactly how physical has it been? The reputation is there, Clarke is (still) there, the height/weight stats are there. But are we getting killed in their crease or in the corners? I’m not seeing it (comfortably ensconced in my arm-chair). Remember Fonzie explaining how everyone considered him so tough but no one ever saw him in a fight? I mean, are they significantly more physical than either the Caps or Pens?

Here comes the savior himself, Ryan O’Byrne. I guess now the Habs are a shoe in to score at least 5 goals and will win the next 4 straight. At least according to all the misguided geniuses on here. I have never seen so minor and irrelevant an issue get discusssed to death, in the face of so many bigger problems. O’Byrne will play like 12-14 mins tonight and maybe be responsible for a goal or maybe not. There is no way you can look at this move and say it will impact the game in any significant way. Even though it is probably better that O’Byrne is in the line -up, the incessant commenting about him, is really mind boggling to me. All Habs fans must have actually lost their minds after that game 7 win against the Pens. i really believe the Flyer fans are finding all this hilarious. If we were up 2-0 on them, after having shut them out back to back and they were all losing it over whether Ryan Parent should be playing, I would be laughing my ass of. I would say they are all blaming Laviolette for this, siting his not playing Parent. Poor misguided children, they don’t even have a clue.

I share your reservations about MAB, but wouldn’t stop at removing him from D duty. When I think of how many pucks have eluded him at the blueline on PPs, and a few potential shorties for Philly, and how seldom he actually unloads the big shot, I wonder is he worth a spot on the bench at all at the moment?

Hey did you read what I said? i said I believe O’Byrne should be in the line-up. Why are you saying I’m questioning that? What I am questioning is this complete uproar that O’Byrne being in or out of the line-up is a huge deal. It’s just been way overblown and it’s dumb really. I feel it’s just embarrassing that Habs fans are so small minded to believe that’s the issue at hand.Also MAB is only -1 in this series. Only Spacek has been better, so calm down that MAB is ruining the team. MAB belongs on the 4th line, but no, the Habs are not down 0-2 because of MAB.

Just cause OB is in, doesn’t mean JM will necessarily take MAB off of defense. OB has been in the line-up before wehre he’s played sparingly and MAb has taken a regular D shift. If JM is smart, he’ll use OB as the 6th D man and MAB on the PP only, but who knows what JM is thinking. He obviously likes MAB much much more than any fan who has seen him play.

I don’t know. I thought he was rubbin’ in the Leafs’ faces that they don’t draft local boys who go on to excellent careers elsewhere. Me, I kind of like the idea of the Habs succeeding by plucking gems from the Buds’ backyard.

Bah. JM has to staple someone each game. It was OB’s turn. Hey, he got to put on the uni tonight. It’s a start. I say he dresses again Saturday, not that he’ll see much playing time, but if it gets ugly early he’ll be thrown out there for sure.

Actually I couldn’t give a rats behind who dresses, plays or sits when the final is 5-1 for the good guys.

For those who think OB makes no difference, the fact we play 7 D actually helped a great deal tonight. What it does is get players like Cammy and Gionta more ice time, and even though its with the 4th line Cammy especially looked very good on those shifts. Plus, should the game become more physical, JM can always use OB on D over MAB if he feels he’s on his game. It may have been a bit premature to relagate him to the bench so soon, but I guess JM didn’t feel he was on his game today, and I’m not going to argue with the coach that got us here.

MAB is the worst excuse for an NHL defenceman / player I ‘ve ever seen in all my years watching this game. He is truly clueless out there. As bad as he is , he actually made some good passes tonight and scored a goal so I have to give him credit for that. WTG MAB….HA !!

I was in French Immersion growing up in Ontario. I can usually pick up most of the game… while I hate CBC I actually seem to value Friedman – he’s decent and usually asks intelligent questions. From now on I’ll just switch to RDS for the intermissions.

haha ya actually I thought I’d take the Cup oer the girls since I am hetero girl… but Carey and Maxim for a year or the Cup!? That’s a hard choice I’d take the Cup since the boys are on the road too much to keep me fully satisfied :p

Except he didn’t really play as a 7th D because his TOI went to 1:03, JM’s one mistake is too many policy with non-veterans paying big dividends, MAB turned over the puck so often you’d think he was making pancakes.

Had to work so listened to CHAD on the computer. Come Sat. glued to the T.V. 1 rum per goal. Hope for another 5 or more goals. Way to go boys and all the goonery leads to penalties but i do wish we had an enforcer out there for times like that as you knew it was coming, however he would probably not have been playing with the flyers playing 6 skaters anyway. Also have Versus at the cabin so no f#@king CBC announcers to listen to.

p/s What happened to that Flyers twit who was on the site the last 2 games. Also speed can overcome size. End it by saying Chris Pronger sucks and swallows.

I know there’s still 13 minutes left, and you never know what could happen, but if I’m JM I would drastically reduce Cammy’s ice-time……he’s been out there the whole game and I don’t wanna see him go off wincing

I’m a HUGE price fan, but I have a bad feeling he’d be saying “ATTA BOY GOOD CANAJIN!” if Price were doing what Halak was right now. Which is major BS – he can’t even get Halak’s name right? After SEVERAL broadcasts?

I HATE THOSE GOONS… now that was the Habs team that played in the first 2 rounds, what a difference home ice can make to kick start us back to life. Honestly i don’t see Philly as having the same kind of threat that we faced with WASH/PENNS….speed/finesse/passing/superstar awe…etc… Philly has none of that, but they have GOONERY and ‘large body cycle and crash net and kill our forwards’… but it seems we found the solution to beating that kind of team…use your speed.

I don’t like the idea of a young defencemen who’s trying to get it going getting benched over single mistakes, what does that do to a guy? Nothing good, messes with the head when he doesn’t need it.

Great game, but MAB could have given the Flyers the opportunity to get back in the game with the turnovers he kept making, I don’t want to gripe about a win but MAB is just such an eyesore sometimes I can’t help but get ticked of.

Someone has to really nail Richards. He’s a punk and at the top of my list of Flyers who should be leg-checked accidently on purpose. Either that or plant a snapper off his mouth early in Game 4. Yes, I think we should injure him for all the right reasons.

Why wouldn’t you put O’B on in the last 2 minutes. When the Flyers went stupid, you needed O’B out there. Do you want Spacek or Subban in a fight. or is JM just dressing him so he can punish him. MAB was HORRIBLE tonight, except for 1 good shot!!

I hadn’t watched much of the bruins-flyers series, but from what I saw, it was a significantly slower paced then the Montrel-Pens series. I had a hard time understanding why we lost the first 2 games and am confirming my initial Habs in 5 prediction. I think we might take it in 6, but like the stat has been floating around that Phily has never lost going up 2-0 in a series, but whatever. Habs in 7.

Edit: Oh and if I jinx this game you can blame me, I already jinxed the shut-out earlier.

don’t worry…I figured out JM…he goes on hunches… so he figures to bench Obryne, no problem, as someone pointed out it allowed dbl shifting on the 4th line giving gionta/cammy more ice…and he has one heck of a hunch with MAB because he doesn’t miss a shift, but i like MAB, even with his mistakes, reminds me of Kovy, full of tricks,,,at least we saw the laser tonight, finally.

Hey, that’s Mr. P.O.S. to you. He smoked the Habs like a ham en route to getting his Stanley Cup ring. Remember that one? Justin Williams damn near cyclopsed Koivu and not one of the gutless bastards dressing for the Habs did jack!

I knew i remembered that P.O.S.’s face somewhere, the coach of the bas*()&TARD UnJusticeWilliams taking Koivus eye out,
well that team is long gone, same yellow team that didn’t react to Gorges being hit as well when he was wobbly.

I hate when the Habs layback & wait till the endof the game, I wish they would get control of the puck and take it out of their end instead of slapping almost wildly at every puck as it circles the boards & hopint to clear the zone………Control it boys like you did all game

1) Michael Leighton played like Michael Leighton. Jaroslav Halak played like the Halak we know.

2) Hamrlik was outstanding. Gorges was very good. The rest of the D was also reasonably solid. Poor OB played two bad shifts and got benched. Yet he was replaced by MAB, who has had an unrecordable number of bad shifts and continues to play. Other than his late (and rather meaningless goal), he was not very good on the PP and kept turning it over while trying to break the offensive blueline. Yes, his play was masked by how much energy the team brought, but still not impressed. Hope OB gets another shot next game because his upside is much better than what MAB has shown all playoffs long. OB had to have been nervous and that will improve with more time.

3) The Flyers today played up to the expectations set by their fans. They had a number of penalties, but they could have easily had 25-30 more and that’s not an exagerrration. They went ater players late, they went after players after the whistle, they ran into Halak, they hit from behind (including one where Hamr could have been seriously hurt). The reffing was brutal tonight, they let way too much go. It looked like it was mainly Devorski asleep again (he did this to us last time he reffed too). When Gorges got called for interference late, it was pretty clear Carcillo wrapped him up and yanked Gorges down on top of himself. During the timeout, it looked like Watson even went up to Devorski to tell him he had gotten in wrong and then Devorski looked like he was trying to explain to Gorges what he had seen. In the first, the flyers interfered with the Habs all over the place and knocked their sticks out o there hands at least twice. No calls. When lapierre does it, suddenyl the refs remember it’s a penalty. When Plekanec and Timonen were grappling (and got coincidentals), Pronger skated up and gave Pleks a punch to the back of his head while he couldn’t see. No call. The linesmen also missed a number of calls, notably a non-call on icing on Philly in the first that then led to us being called or icing, and a call where they left the faceoff in our zone even though Coburn came in from the point to push in the scrum. Yes, they also missed the Gorges shot on Giroux, but all in all very displeased with Devorski in particular. Absolutely unacceptable for the stanley cup semifinals to have such low-calibre refereeing.

4) Habs finally took advantage of their speed and the Flyers D looked tired and slow because of it. How many times did Pronger have to clutch and grab to stop them? If the flyers are going to play 4 D, this has to keep up.

5) Finally, two things I really liked about the way we played tonight that we didn’t do in the two losses: one, we took the puck to the middle of the ice when we obtained the offensive zone instead of going down the boards and flipping it weakly at the net. Caused a lot more movement and confusion. Second, we didn’t back up when the flyers hit our zone. We pressured the puckholder much more and didn’t let them establish themselves in our territory. That needs to be there next game too. If we play this way, we will be the better team for the rest of the series.

The two Jaro’s: first the one with the mask — there definitely seems to be a correlation between Halak’s state of mind and this team’s performance. When he is sharp, it feeds back into the energy of this team, and that in turn raises Jaro’s game. He made a couple of huge saves early, and it set the tone for the rest of the game.

Jaro, the flag-bearers’ best friend: his game may have sagged in the late stages of the regular season, but he is playing some of his best hockey right now. On one of the Flyers’ early power-plays, he almost single-handedly killed it off, repeatedly winning the battles along the boards and clearing the puck. And what about his countryman, the Czech Hammer? Much maligned this post-season, he was fully deserving of the first star. Brilliant.

Speaking of defenseman and PK’s,:Subban rebounded after two games in which he very much looked like a rookie to play with fire and grit and SPEED. Every time we upped the tempo of the game, the Flyers’ very tight unity began to fray, and they got caught out of position. 3 assists! Say no more.

Maddening MAB: Staying on defense, I am sorry, but MAB’s one late, meaningless goal does not make up for a game filled with ridiculous turn-overs and errant passes. No surprise that he was on the ice for the Flyers’ only goal.

Tom and Dom: Pyatt and Moore also fully deserved their star-turns. They may not get as much attention as Halak, Cammy, Gill or Gorges, but to me they have been just as important to our playoff success. They skate, they harass, they create turn-overs, they embody the relentless drive of this team.

The two errant ships find their bearings: AK has been steadily improving over the 16 post-season games, and tonight may have been his best since his mid-April hat-trick. He is incredibly strong on his skates. Almost impossible to knock over. There was one sequence when he was battling for a loose puck in front of the Philly net as Flyers bodies kept bouncing off him. Finally one wise cookie decided to just lift Andrei’s stick to get the puck away from harm. The only thing he is missing is a goal, and Cammy tried hard to get him one when, despite being in perfect position to shoot, he chose to feed AK in front. Leighton foiled him. Dommage.

And even Benny P. showed signs of awakening. By far his best game in about two months. He is clearly snake-bitten and is afraid of making a mistake, but he worked hard, used his body size well, and had a few good scoring chances. He just may become a valuable asset in the games ahead.

And finally the enigma that is Count Coach: JM had his team back playing the way that gave the Pens and Caps so many problems. Two forecheckers, active defense, speed up the wings, and clutter in front of their goal. But where was that in the first two games? When we play passive, we may out-shoot the other team, but we lose. When we open up the throttle and use the wheels that guys like Gomez, Cammy, Pleks, Pyatt, and, yes, Laps have, we win the races to the puck and cause big problems for teams that are built to crash deep, and defend in tight.

One last note: Pronger is such a grade-A a$$. In that final scrum, he held Pleks in a head lock for no reason, and then dropped his gloves and tried to get Tommy to fight. What a twerp. There are few things sweeter than seeing Pronger stew in the sin-bin as his team gets scored on for yet another of his stupid, undisciplined penalties.

Great game, another copy of this for game 4 and we’re right back in this series. Lapierre played a great game, just the way he has to. The grinder lines really won it for us with the dominant play, plus the usual Cammy and Gionta goals. Halak with a spectacular bounce back game. Couldn’t have asked for a better performance out of everyone.

See…Its not about single players….Its not about O’byrne…Its not about poor ole SK…Its about the team…When our Goalie makes the saves…And our Defense wins the battles…And our forwards score…We take over the game…I agree JM’s benching of Obie is a little premature (although he’s made 2 mistakes early in his first shifts)…Its not only JM who see’s fault in Obie…Its obvious Perry Pearn and Kirk Muller have a say in who goes in and who stays on the bench…MAB is just….MAB…He is a huge liability…Im still shocked he’s taking a shift…But unlike most…JM has had a part in bringing this team to where it is…So I aint gonna insult his intelligence on the game…WERE ALIVE!!!

“I went to see a fight the other night…And A hockey game broke out!” ~Rodney Dangerfield~

Yeah, one mistake is enough for a benching with JM. Not that it’s messing with the guy’s head and making him shaky on the ice or anything… head games with a young player end the same every time, badly.

Greatest team effort and overall game in the playoffs. Congrats to the Habs for coming out and playing their hardest. If they would have done this in Philly we’d be up at least 2-1. Saturday is huge. I believe whoever wins that game wins it all.

How sweet it is!! Massive effort by the Habs, dominating in every way. Would have been nice for Jaro to get a SO, but it’s the W that counts. Terrific game, arguably one of the best of the playoffs for the Habs.

Oh for heavenn sack. That’s comment is just plain unfounded, untrue and unbelievable. Torture young players? What proof do you have of this X? You have access to the bench? The room? The bus? Stop this mad, whacked out hate for the coach and stick to hockey please.

WTF, we win tonight , kick butt and half the idiots on here are still bitching because OB’s not playing and MAB scored. Figure it out after. After 99 games, he’s not a defensive stalwart and no one ever claimed he was. He was brought in for the PP not to go head to head with Pronger in the corners. It never ends on this site. I’m going to bed!

everyone has to say something about Toronto cause a) it’s the centre of Canada and the entire universe and if Toronto didn’t exist it’d be 2012 b) I’m beginning to think the CRTC has regulations of how much air-time must be dedicated to Toronto

I hope he spots OB in the third to take a little pressure of the big 4 tonight. It will get ugly in the 3rd and even though he is not a heavy weight he can go with most of the flyer morons. Lets go JM play some muscle here.

Could not help noticing as the players leaving the bench and Laps was tapping everyone…..as he tapped O’Byrne there was nothing….the poor dude is devastated…I don’t know if he can come back if the team needs him in Philly.

Well done. We’ve been at eachothers throats over who JM sits and plays. Why this guy, why not that guy? Really, to what end?

This series is far from over but somehow this team keeps digging deep and coming up with ways to figure out their opponents. It’s a team sport from the GM on down to whoever sits in the press box. Game to game though it’s the coaches and the guys on the ice who make it happen. All together they’re doing a pretty good job in spite of all the adversity. And in spite of our “cheap seats” suggestions. I think they may know a bit more about the game than any of us.

I don’t want to take all the credit, but, I decided to try to change the momentum of the series by getting a haircut. I got to my guy five minutes before closing with three guys ahead of me. I debated. I might miss the start of the game. My barber might be pissed at me. He waves me in, I wait for nearly an hour, I get home just as the puck is dropping, and the rest, my friends, is history.

Can’t slow down now, Flyers are no strangers to being down 3-0, and they’ve put 3 by Halak before. Another period like the first two though and it will probably be our most dominant game these playoffs.

I wish I undertsood French, then I could just watch RDS and not put up with that garbage.

And I meant to ask you… there was an interesting debate about winning the Cup or having those two chicks from that guys avatar the other day. So, badangel, the Cup or Carey and Maxim for a year? Can’t let the guys have all the fun afterall.

Not sure if there was an event last night at the BC, or if it was just due to today’s heat, but that is sloooow ice. And it resulted in a goal for us on Pronger’s muffed outlet pass. Our guys better bear down on their passes as this game progresses!

Great period, exactly what the doctor ordered. Both goalies look hot, which is excellent for us since we’ve already managed two. Leighton made some nice saves and it took 2 unstoppable goals to beat him, which is usually the case when a goalie is hot. Keep it up, another garbage goal, and hopefully we’ll knock him outta that zone. Jaro faced fewer shots as usual, but this time came up huge on those high quality chances. Important not to sit back on this lead, 2-0 leads are the most dangerous in hockey, an early goal to start the period 5 on 3 would be amazing.

Head west out of Thunder Bay, home of Tom Pyatt (and the Staals and Patrick Sharpe). Head up the highway to Dryden, home of Chris Pronger, then 88 miles more brings you into Kenora, home of Mike Richards. This is a Northwestern Ontraio series.

LOL…..wow dude take a midol. I guess O’Byrne is the first player to put the puck ove the ice. I guess you are from the JM school of coaching …..make one mistake a sit….unless your name is Gomez, MAB, Hammer, PK , Spacek…….

Seriously, fire Martin already. Right now. That’s just ridiculous. Before he messes up this team more than he already has. Replacing him just before game 3 can’t hurt the team more than letting him keep goofing things up.

I mean, he’s been a thorough failure all year, but keeping Pyatt with Gomez and Gionta after he neutralized them for 10 minutes last game is… profoudly stupid. What does he hope to accomplish, besides forcing Gomez and Gionta to babysit the team’s worst 5-on-5 forward and reducing them to uselessness?

His inexplicable absurd love for a fourth-liner is hardly the worst blunder Martin has done this year (at least he’s been consistently awful) but it speaks to his inability to adjust and recognize something that was bold-faced stupid on the face of it.

Pyatt has no business anywhere outside the fourth line and the PK and that’s the end of it.

And now Martin “took the team to the ECF” so his job his safe. Montreal will lose Boucher, who’s actually a competent coach, to keep a guy who’s been awful all year and already induced the organization to make damaging long-term personnel move to keep him happy.

What a complete disaster. I’m not seeing playoffs next year, gang. I’d say this will set the Habs back 2-3 years, if not more.

I agree with you on Pouliot.This game could be a “series changer”.For awhile ,Martin had us going with surprises as he was juggling the lines,short shifts ,and you never knew who you were going to get on the us.

This series is almost predictable.Actualy it is.ONE PERSON I AM NOT GOING TO BLAME IS HALAK.AND HE COULD USE LITTLE HELP<dont you think?he cant do it all.Leighten,gave up a bunch of rebounds in game 2,but the habs didnt bite.They need to be super aggresive tonight.Like they were with the Caps and the pens.Come on they beat those 2 teams.!Go Habs.I dont want this to be over.I want an original 6 six final

between the hawks and the habs.TRivial anyone?When was the last time 2 original 6 teams met in the finals?

I have no idea.I prob bet in the 70s or early 80s???

Enjoy your game!Go habs!You can do it!Gosh it will be nice not to see those ugly orange fans in the stands!That is eye-blinding!

I agree with you on Pouliot.This game could be a “series changer”.For awhile ,Martin had us going with surprises as he was juggling the lines,short shifts ,and you never knew who you were going to get on the us.

This series is almost predictable.Actualy it is.ONE PERSON I AM NOT GOING TO BLAME IS HALAK.AND HE COULD USE LITTLE HELP<dont you think?he cant do it all.Leighten,gave up a bunch of rebounds in game 2,but the habs didnt bite.They need to be super aggresive tonight.Like they were with the Caps and the pens.Come on they beat those 2 teams.!Go Habs.I dont want this to be over.I want an original 6 six final

between the hawks and the habs.TRivial anyone?When was the last time 2 original 6 teams met in the finals?

I have no idea.I prob bet in the 70s or early 80s???

Enjoy your game!Go habs!You can do it!Gosh it will be nice not to see those ugly orange fans in the stands!That is eye-blinding!

Pyatt may be a hard worker, but he sucks at hockey. He’s the worst 5-on-5 forward on the team. Yes, he looks like he’s working hard because he skates fast and all, but the object here is to win and I take actual effectiveness over the appearance of effort any day.

Pyatt playing on the top line is asinine. Trying it after it’s been tried and failed is beyond asinine. It’s crippling the first line before the game even starts. Way to go, Martin.

F**** KAte Smith. She is dead, and so are we if we don`t get Nikki Yanovski to sing our anthem! As a season ticket holder, I have been to a few games where Nikki Yanovski shook the Bell Centre. What is Geoff molson waiting for? Its time to turf lcharles prevost limp-ton and get our generation`s Roger doucette in (PK Subban style!)

Tabarsnack!…we better get going tonight…Last two games have been miserable…

Glad to see or enforcer is at least doing something…I miss Aaron Downie…at least that mug would drop gloves and look after les boys…Shawn Thorton veggie man…he’s cheap and he can skate…UFA next season…make it happen…

GO HABS GO!!!!!

“The ‘System’ will not stop until it owns Lord Stanley’s Cup…All hail the System!”

Do you not feel like a real ass hole now that Pyatt scored and has fit in pretty good. I know its frustrating some times but when you get you foot out of your mouth you should yhen stick it up your arse.

Thanks. When has JM become a sacred cow that one dare not criticize? Yes he has taken the team farther than any coach I have witnessed, but it does not mean he is beyond making errors. JM has a blind spot when it comes to positioning players. I am not questioning his strategy just the use of his assets.

But he’s only 6’1″ and around 200 lbs. Smurf status according to some here. Nope, not big enough. Needs to be 6’4″ and 235 minimum to make these folks happy. Skate? Who cares as long as he’s a headhunter, right?

Who’s with me for signing Alexandre Frolov in the offseason? A guy like him could really help us right now. He’s 6’2″ / 210 pounds … slightly bigger the AK. Everyone knows how good him and Cammy were together back in LA AND if I stand correct, Cammy has approached the brass about getting him a few times …. time will tell I suppose…

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Never judge another man’s decision poor until you actually have proof of it failing!

Frolov has had some sharp criticism from the LA Kings management over the last year or two I understand about his commitment and he wasn’t exactly carrying the offence for the Kings this year, rather leave him to the free agency market where he’s going to be getting a huge contract anyway that the Habs can’t match because of the lack of scoring forwards in free agency this year.

You make some good points. I remember reading about some of the Frolov issues this year. I think most of, if not all of it, was eventually solved though. Im not expecting 90 points from the guy, but he is capable of geting around 75, which is slightly more then AK has EVER pulled in. Perhaps a deal could be worked out with LA as well for the Kostitsyns, but Frolov would have to agree to re-sign of course. With Cammys influence, you just never know, lol

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Never judge another man’s decision poor until you actually have proof of it failing!

Devorski gave us the old scroogie last time he reffed. Better be an improved showing tonight, none of these garbage interference calls for a hand brush. Here’s hoping the refs are consistent all night long and the linesmen just drop the puck instead of acting like they’re a baseball pitcher trying to make a pick-off.

Notice how he spent all the game on a line with Moore and Lapierre — ie. not being asked to do something he can’t do. While Pouliot was with Gomez and Gionta, and that line was exponentially more effective. That’s not a coincidence.

Pyatt had a very impressive game, but at his best he’s a third liner — this would never have happened if he’d been asked to play first-line opposition. Thankfully, Martin hasn’t gone so completely bonkers as to give Pyatt first-line minutes two games in a row.

Who knew how easily we could have solved our goalie controversy merely by keeping Michael Leighton? I have to believe we are making this guy look better than he actually is. I have to think that or … have my head EXPLODE!

Markov’s surgery: CKAC reports it
was in Cleveland. No reliable orthopedic surgeons in Montreal? Or is
there something particular about the injury?

Odds are the Canadiens medical staff did a bit of research on who the best available surgeon was and the guy happened to be in Cleveland. Given the 10-1 population ratio and the demand for high-level sports medicine for pro athletes wiith the NFL/MLB/NBA factored in, it’s not surprising Markov would go to the States to get his operation done, that and there’s no waiting list.

desperation is a dangerous drug! Hopefully the habs can walk the fine line between the buzz and the trainwreck!

Simple key to the powerplay is give up on the point shot. they are rushing our D and making us force passes. set up with pleks or gomer by the far hash marks and move it around until you can get cammy or a d man break through the top two guys, then its a one-timer shelf!! I gotta good feeling about tonight!!

That has surely nothing to do with waiting lists. For these kind of surgeries you only consider the very best. I know a
lot of European players who even went to the U.S. after an ACL injury. For many years a
certain Dr. Richard Steadman seemed to do all these surgeries. Maybe the
new Steadman lives in Cleveland…

Any time Kate Smith has appeared live or on tape, the Flyers are 82-21-4. Record for her duets with Lauren Hart: 8-1.

I heard Burger King said the Smith effect was when kate smith came and ate all the burgers and drank all the mayonaise. She can’r sing, and she isn’t much of a looker, so when we go back to game 5 knotted at 2, the record will change to 8 and 2. That hart girl is good looking, but she can’t sing. She tries to do these runs and she always ends up behind the music!!

Boone, I am pretty sure there is an orthopedic surgeon in Cleveland who does a new synthetic ACL replacement which heals much quicker than the traditional surgery which can have a 6-9 month recovery period.

God JM is so stubborn. Pyatt does not belong with Gomez and Gionta. Gomez never shoots and when he does he misses, so the Flyers just key on Gionta since Pyatt has hands of concrete.

Put Pouliot on that line! If he is ever going to regain his touch it will be where he had all his success, and not on a checking line. Note to JM! Pouliot, SK and AK are not checkers they are skilled players who need ice time and skilled linemates to be effective.

Exactly. And they never get called for it when it is illegal. Kind of like how Carolina won its Cup by running every goalie through the backboards with nary a call. When it comes to officiating, the NHL is GARBAGE. The NHL wants goon hockey. Go figure.

Goaltending is a major factor that has brought us here thus far – not only the stellar play of Halak but also the shaky performances from opponents such as Fleury and Varlamov. Leighton (5GP/4-0/4GA/0.87/.969) is a career back-up who every once in awhile gets hot for a few games. Halak may have dipped a bit in comparison but I’m not sure it’s as much of a factor as our inability to score. Regardless, our ace card should have been a huge advantage in this series and is now being negated by a fluke injury to the opposition that has turned surprisingly into a huge benefit. Go figure.

Simply stated, Philadelphia’s top six forwards are better than our top six collective. Richards is far superior to either Gomez or Pleks and Briere has come to life at the most opportune time. Simon Gagne is doing for Philly what Cammalleri did for us in the first two series. Sparks are just flying off this guy (no pun intended). Every Montreal fan hates Hartnell but wouldn’t we all love to have him in our line-up? The gifted play and upside of Claude Giroux only highlights the ineptitude of young draft picks such as AK46 and Pouliot. Not to mention that Jeff Carter is on the injury list and is being replaced by the nutbar, Carcillo. Could you imagine if we also had to contend with the player who was the last cut from Team Canada? It’s no wonder that these Flyer forwards may well be responsible for the poor play of the Habs special teams just as much as our own player’s incapacity.

Various people have brought up the issue of size in this series. Size is important but you also have to consider how it’s utilized. The Flyers play hard and hit harder. You can sense the aggressive edge even before the hit arrives. They leave their feet with many of their checks and they go to the dirty parts of the ice. Their sandpaper is the coarsest grade available at Home Hardware. They are willing to pay the piper and also make sure that the other team pays an even higher price. A few of them are head-hunters and one or two even have a screw loose. They also excel at creating mayhem around the other team’s net. Conversely, their opposition is hesitant to park themselves in front of the Flyer net. Hence, the intimidation works at both ends of the ice. They also appear to skate faster in comparison to the Habs which is something that I wasn’t expecting. All these factors add up to a Flyer advantage that can’t be measured by stats alone. Simply stated, we are their bitches at the present moment.

24, I like 2 out of 3 paras! Indeed, what’s not to like about the Flyers? (For me Carcillo and Pronger; long-term goalie situation). And you mention speed and I agree. Before Game 1 I asked here whether anyone really thought the Flyers looked slow. (A Boston fan replied that both the Bruins and Flyers looked in slow motion compared to Habs-Pens). I guess speed can be deceptive, but to me Philly looks plenty fast as you say.

Maybe you’ve been at games and I’m only watching on TV. But I would challenge your summary of the physical contest. I think the Flyers’ size has been much less of a real factor than a kind of aura: the tradition, the reputation, the height-weight stats. But I don’t see Habs getting murdered in front or in the corners, certainly not in the neutral zone. We seem to be going hit-for-hit with them, or nearly. But maybe you have 18 Youtubes to demolish me!

The main size advantages I see is Leighton watching everything over the heads of the smurfs, and our D men sometimes — though not always — having trouble shifting Richards or Hartnell from in front. (Hammers has been quite physical so far this series, making up for some disapointments in the first 2 rounds).

We mostly outplayed them in Game 2. If we can start converting that into scores, we win. And with two teams so well aware of the reality of unlikely comebacks, maybe just maybe we get inside the Flyers heads a little.

I predicted before the regular season that the Flyers would be in the conference finals. How can anyone look at that roster and not be impressed by the shear talent and toughness? I was shocked at how they faltered in the regular season and was at a loss to explain it.

Of all the teams the Habs could face I feared the Flyers the most. They have the type of players and style of play that is the worst possible match up for the Habs. The Achilles heel was always the goal tending and now that appears to be solid.

I still believe the Habs CAN win, but it will take a supreme effort with a lot of luck and a coach willing to adapt.

True, but he helped win Round 2. I felt Markov was hamming it in for Round 1 so while it stung to lose him it was a blessing in disguise. I only hope PK realizes he can’t single handedly win a game and not to dwell on his mistakes. Otherwise it’s going to sting.

Yeah, you could see already in Game 2 that the anarchy of Game 1 had been eliminated. Not doubt the coach had a few words. But you’re right — hopefully he doesn’t dwell on it and lose some of that cowboy attitude. We need that. Other thing is, he’s not a secret weapon anymore.

Not sure what you mean by Markov hamming.

Would love to see Pronger physically neutralised, even for just one shift. Could anyone do it? Max? Pouliot?

Markov went into more of a defensive role in the first series and focused in on that. He wasn’t exactly contributing to a lot of scoring, but has Subban really collected many points either since he’s basically had to take over Markov’s job? Markov played as best he could, in a year he had a tendon injury that he came back early with and clearly struggled, as the smooth skating All-Star clearly didn’t have the same fluid movement on the ice as he usually did. For a skating defencemen, an injury that affects your skating can have a huge impact on your game, it’s pretty simple.

With Markov in, we could’ve had Markov, Subban, Hamrlik, Spacek, Gill and Gorges as our 6-man defensive unit, I would have much rather have had that than MAB with any TOI.

Yet if Hamrlik were to say, play like he’s 85 years old, he gets regular minutes. A veteran can make a mistake, a rookie can not. Show me the logic, how are the rookies supposed to learn or try and make up for something if they never get a chance?

Your sig sums up the issue with young players, but JM isn’t a subscriber.

Yeah but how can the guy ever settle down in a game when all he is thinking about is his next mistake means he’s back in the press box or plays more than 4 minutes in a game so he has a chance to settle down? He had a bad start but he’s never going to have good starts if he doesn’t get some regular time in.

What makes it worse is that JM will never give that young player a chance to make it up. Just sits them on the bench to feel terrible with no way of helping and to lose even more confidence. How is any player supposed to perform under the knowledge any mistake EVEN A FLUKE will result in a benching.

Hamrlik is a 1200-game NHL veteran who worked hard to put the Penguins back into Game 7 against PIT when we were leading 4-0, he should know better to make stupid, unforgiveable mistakes. OB makes one, his butt is nailed to the bench or put to the press box when he’s been pulled in and out of the lineup for far less, how does letting a veteran be a complete ****up but not forgiving a young guy for smaller stuff make any sense or not mess with his head?

That’s exactly it Tony. The Flyers are good, not great. We’ve just been kinda lousy against them. I really think we can take the next 2 games chez nous. One goal to end this drought. Then it’s a whole new series. You asked me how the boys can do it in another thread, well, here you go: Other Wing.

pitts and wash did not care about the habs …they were too full of them selves so they employed no strategy and were under the impression all they had to do is throw line after line out and win easily…right now it is easy to coach vs the habs…as long as your goalie does not give up bad goals all you have to do is stop 2 forwards from scoring and than you have a pretty good chance the habs will score at most 1-2 goals a game. all season posters argued about who should play net or d but 90% of the reason habs struggled in the reg season was lack of secondary scoring. based on cap space and whats on the farm for next year this problem will continue next year and may even be worse

The place will be rocking. I’d love to see us come out flying, totally carrying the play and having great shifts of sustained pressure to keep the crowd’s energy sky-high. Pot the first goal of the game halfway through the first so that the first ten minutes actually seem like a buildup. Then keep coming at them. The “Leighton” taunts will make him soil himself.

Get those white jerseys out of Halak’s way. Get in Pronger’s head. Get Carcillo to snap and take stupid penalties. Expose their third D pairing. Score at least one with the man advantage. We can do this! A win and we’re right back in this thing!

H is for Help which is what the Habs need right now. G is for Goal which is what the Habs also need. Halak may finally be exhausted. We’ll see. Normally I would be rooting for the Habs but I want the parade in my back yard, not at the usual route. Cretins, ooh that hurt. My mother has called me worse names.

Ironically I had a dream that I was watching a Habs game and we were down 2 and came back to win 4-2… Now I don’t know if it means one game or the series.. Either way it would be nice if they won tongiht..

Down 2-0 but coming back home for the next two… not the end of the world, but it’s a must-win game tonight. Nonetheless, we need to use the age-old adage of taking it one game at a time.Key points:

-Philly is still a team using a career minor-league goalie, a team with injuries, and a team that snuck into the playoffs on the last day of the season. This is not to say that we are any better, only to say that as good as their team is playing now, they have had a massively inconsistent season and a little bit of luck our way could easily put them onto a 4-game losing streak (they did lose 3 straight against a weak Boston team before bouncing back).

-The Habs still have some fire-power in the line-up and a lot o guys who are playing under their potential, not like a year ago when all our good players were hurt and you knew everyone was giving 100% and just didn’t have the talent to do any more. The guys this year have shown they can play with the best teams, and we can certainly play with Phi.

- Phi’s success has come mainly off of the PP and momentum generated from the PP. At least 2-3 of their even-strength goals came within a minute of their PP ending, so tack on their 4 PP goals and that means most of their offence is special-teams generated. Our pp had some moments where it looked better last game but still no goals… if we can turn around the PP situation, we can likely give ourselves the chance to take the lead in the game and make them play from behind or a change.

- We have a guy in reserve (OB) who can bring a much better physical presence to the game, and at no expense to the rest of our line-up. Let’s say MAB goes to line 4. No one is missing his play on D, and with the minutes that Metro or Pouliot or SK were getting on line 4, no one will notice their absence either. So adding OB means we have a chance to improve our line-up (and maybe PK) for free. Any boost helps.

- Throw in home ice advantage and we have lots of reasons to believe we can come back and win the next two. Just winning tonight wipes out all of the gusto and confidence the flyers have built up. the season is on the line tonight, so if ever there’s a game where the boys were to step it up, this is just as big as the two game 7’s. Let’s hope they do the job. Go Habs Go!